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Sports have touched and still have reached out to every element of American life. We have seen dramatic wins, losses, championships, great plays, and not so great plays. Americans love sports as well as the athletics that play them and like to share and mention these great moments.

The 1960s was obviously a amount of evolution and change inside the sporting world. American sports certainly mirrored that which was occurring in American history. The 1960s would be a decade full of emotional rebellion among the younger generation. The labor struggles, race relations, social innovations and commercialism that were evident daily in American society might be traced time for events that occurred within the sporting world.

Athletics began thinking of getting highly purchased their sporting talent and have rich by playing their specific sport. This was just like the attitude of the younger generation reflected within the lifestyles inside the 1960s. Athletes began invading the concept of commercialism by selling their goods through their sponsors and making more money. This made amateur athletics need to turn professional even earlier. And for the first-time inside 1968 Olympics, amateur and professional athletes competed together.

Union labor struggles were evident inside the sporting world with athletes hiring union leaders to represent them in their team dealings. Also, racial issues were evident where black athletes would use their fame to state their views against racism. We also saw the hiring of Bill Russell since the first black head basketball coach from the Boston Celtics because they won their 8th consecutive championship.

However, despite all of the struggles and commercialism evident within the sporting world plus in American History, the 1960s saw some very nice sports performances and created some great memories. Athletes like Wilma Rudolph, Jack Nicklaus, and Wilt Chamberlain – a few – were on top of their respective sport. We also saw great teams such as the Boston Celtics and Green Bay Packers. Sports – bringing all of this together.